Traditionally, wooden fences have incorporated a wooden gate to provide passage to a fenced area. Such fences and gates may be formed of pressure-treated wood and/or stained or painted to protect the wood from environmental forces and to provide an aesthetically pleasing appearance.
Regardless of the manner in which wooden fences or gates are treated over time they become "weathered". This problem can be minimized by restraining or repainting the elements every few years, but this creates an undesirable burden and cost.
Moreover, even with proper maintenance, fences and gates formed of wood eventually deteriorate. This problem is particularly troublesome in gate constructions where the screws, nails, and/or bolts keeping the elements together, loosen causing a normally square or rectangular plate to become distorted. Misalignment resulting from environmental factors is exacerbated by the cantilever effect of the heavy weight of the wooden gate elements themselves, particularly in large gates over about 36 inches wide, and the tendency of people to stand or sit on the gate and/or swing with the gate. Such misalignment may cause the gate to stick in certain positions or, if the problem is severe, prevent the gate from closing or opening.
Previously, this problem has been remedied by reinforcing or tightening the connections between the gate members and/or rehanging the gate so as to provide a correct alignment between the gate and the adjacent sideposts of a fence.